kitchen table talk

About Mrs. Kate Singh

Welcome! I started this blog for a few reasons, to promote my books was the initial reason and then I began to really enjoy sharing my ideas, experience, and advice. This is a place for inspiration if you would like a dose. It’s also a place to get some new and old ideas on running your home, raising happy children, backyard farming, and finding your hearts happy place.

Who am I? I am one of those housewives that dons an apron often, my backyard is filled with gardens, fruit trees, and hens. I have chosen a broom over a vacuum and handwashing dishes for a dishwasher. I do my own baking and cook almost everything from scratch to ensure clean food for my family (and it’s therapy).

We are very unplugged as far as TV and media and I try to avoid the modern world as much as possible. I search out the most positive news and I love a good cup of coffee, an inspiring idea, and rearranging my furniture for a new look in an old room. I’m frugal but I spend money on quality, local, and handcrafted items. We live simply and therefore happily.

My biggest joys are my boys, my home, and the best career I’ve ever had is being a housewife and writer. I am living my dream. My idea of fun is building my little farm and food forest in my 5,000 square foot backyard and hauling home stacks of library books. Not to mention building blocks and legos with my sons and hiking forest and fields or exploring new little Gold Mining towns and farms, of which there are many around here.

This blog is mostly about homemaking in sustainable and frugal ways, creating a peaceful life in a hectic world, building an inner spiritual life and choosing a wholesome lifestyle. I have advice on building a writing career with no money and while raising children. I share ways to get out of debt and make a household budget and being thrifty but not cheap. But mostly I encourage a very green and sustainable life.

I also found a little 1941 house that was run down and home to squatters and dealers and with plenty of scrubbing, painting, and love we have transformed it into a charming little blue cottage. It has been my hobby to transform this home for my family.

I hope that you find all the ideas, motivation and inspiration you are looking for on this site.

Kate I am new to watching your videos.
I am so thankful for finding you.
You are such a inspiration for me.
I love watching you cook and seeing your thrift finds and etc.
I have cut my spending way back over a year ago.
It’s amazing the stuff we think we have to have.
What I found for me that it was a temporary fix.
It made me happy for awhile and then I needed or wanted something else.
I have learned that all this stuff I bought and spent money on does not make me happy or content.
But it is the small things in life.
The simple things .
Keep doing what your doing!
Thank you
Sherry

Where do you live? I go to Vacaville near Davis and to Savers. Clean and big and all the rich villagers drop their stuff there. I would also suggest the bay area and nice areas there. Right now Savers is it for me.

You are close by! We are in South Natomas right now. We have some great and plentiful thrift stores and Goodwills over here. You just have to be willing to take a day now and then to really sift through the junk to get to the good stuff. I love Savers because it’s so clean, bright and organized. Have fun.

Kate,
I am so blown away right now by the little I have read in your wonderful book. You my new friend, I truly believe are a gift to me from our ever loving heavenly Father!! I have shared with you already how lonely I have been since moving to this area, and how difficult it has been to meet friends.
Well, what do you know! After praying for a Christian friend, along comes this perky, fun, inspiring lady named Mrs. Kate Singh and her beautiful little family. Kate,you write about the things I love and that bring me the greatest joy. I have much more to share with you about this, but will do it when we visit this week. I will wrap this up by saying, Praise God for you and may God bless our friendship abundantly. Love Joette

Hi Kate! I just found your website after downloading one of your books at Amazon this weekend and I just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your book The Housewife is a Writer. You are living my dream! I’ll be following along from now on!

Hi kate, I have just started reading one of your books called Return of the Old Fashioned Housewife, and I have to say that reading your book, you sound just like me. You do the same things as me, you feel as I do about things. Its uncanny. Its like reading my own book, but I didnt write it. You and I are so similar its scary. I began living the old fashioned life many years ago. I’d had enough of the world and my home became my sanctuary. I love being a keeper at home. My husband and I have 6 kids, all who were home schooled. Home is our whole life. I just wanted to say thank you for your book. I wish we could meet and have tea and cake together, but you live in the USA and I live in Oz. Bye for now. Julie turner xx

First, where is Oz and would I have to click my heels to get home? I wish I had 6 kids but I started too late. Drat! Do you have a blog? I love it when I find a book like that, it’s all there but from another. I really thank you for the support and good words. I wish I could spend time with many of the ladies on here, we have begun wonderful and supportive friendships. I love my work as housewife and mother and I love, love to talk about it. 🙂 Thank you again Julie.

Hi Kate, Thank you for your reply. Sorry Oz is a slang word for Australia. I live in West Australia near the coast. I am just beginning a blog, but its not ready yet. I love the way your write about your home and family. Our family was very full on with 5 boys and 1 girl. Because of homeschooling, our children are all really close and care very much for each other. Respect is a big thing in our home too.

Now they are all mostly grown, the youngest child is 18 and still at home.
I still love being a housewife too and I have found that grown up children still require so much love and guidance, so I am never far away from my cherubs. They phone me daily, or pop in to see me.
Now I am a grandmother with 3 lovely grandsons, which is a joy to my heart. God has been so faithful to us.
May God bring many blessings to you and your family too. Love Jules from the great south land. xx

Australia! Well, now I know. I love hearing this because it reaffirms that the way I’m raising my sons will ensure that they are always close to each other and mom and dad. We are a very loving family and the boys are best friends. I want them to always love and adore me as they do now in their little years, I would be heartbroken if they grew up and moved on and forgot their sweet mama.

Dear Kate, I love your home before/after video. You did a wonderful job. I have to tell you that when I am cranky your books and your site help me remember what I really do want in this life.
Thank you so much,
Cate Mandigo

Ok, I just checked it out and I’ll have to do this over the weekend. I think someone did this before and I had trouble figuring it out. Very not technical. I also don’t read any blogs. 😦 Terrible I know! I’m really into YouTube. I will get it done though. Thank you for the loving support. I also didn’t learn to read until 2 or 3rd grade, I had to be in a special class and then I just took off reading high school and college age books.

Love your books and following your blog. My kids are grown and have left the nest and we have lots of grandchildren now so looking toward retirement and having money saved to live our dream life and vacation and visit family.

In case I have yet to tell you  Thank you so much for following my blog! I am new to blogging, so my site is a work in progress…hehe! I hope you’ll always find something there that will brighten you day. I will post anything that is related to hope, happiness, kindness, courage, self-esteem, self-care, sense of purpose, serenity, etc., etc. I will include photos, songs, videos, articles, original musings, top-10 lists, etc. Having said that, it’s time for me to go see what your site is all about. Happy blogging!

I love reading all the ways that people save! I love in western Washington and if you are current with the news you know that this part of the state has lost its ever loving mind with housing costs. My situation is much better than a lot of people I know. We are fortunate in that our mortgage is less than 1000.00 per month. We are paying down some debt currently and reigning in our spending. It’s not tough, it’s fun! My 12 year old menu plans with me, we grow a bunch of food, have several fruit trees and have both meat chickens and backyard layers. You would call us urban homesteaders. Now, even though both my man and I are gainfully employed, we are both feeling what decades of doing the same work can do to our bodies. We will not be able to do our careers at this pace for much longer. We are frugal and love how resourceful we have to be to maintain our comfortable existence. We do many of these suggestions on a daily basis. I also trade things I make for things I don’t make. I make soap, my friend makes salves. We trade. My neighbor brings me grapes for free, I make jelly. He gets a few pints and the rest is mine to eat and give as gifts. This is the type of thing that keeps me from feeling deprived. I let my neighbors pick my bay and rosemary. We have more than enough for a lifetime. This neighbor gives us food scraps for our chickens. There is so much more, however if I write too long people wont read the post. Get creative and resourceful, living frugally isn’t as hard as you think! Blessings to all of you!

I love this share and I love our life. We had chickens but I didn’t have it in me to kill them. I also didn’t like our yard for them. We have 1/12th of an acre so I just focus on the fruit, nut trees, grape vines, and kitchen garden. Canning is next on the list of city homesteading. Living frugally takes some time but it is fun for me, at least. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.:)

Hey, Kate, I just wanted to say a quick comment to tell you just how much I truly enjoy your blog, videos and books! I honestly feel like we’re kindred spirits! You remind me so much of a close friend of mine: your sense of humor, mothering, homemaking, etc. I also love how you encourage women to use and love what they already have. I, too, feel like I just cannot keep up with or even compete with some of the bloggers who put up the front of a perfect life and home (nor do I even want to). I love your simplicity. I love your love for life and homemaking. I love that to tell others the truth that stuff, money, running around, and keeping up with what everyone else had and does isn’t what makes one happy. I’m one who purposefully actually goes my own way against the “norm” so to speak. I just love your long talks along with a cup of coffee (hey, sistah…fellow coffee lover here). I just feel like we’re hanging out while our kids run around and play when I listen to your talks. I’m about your age and sometimes, although I have been married for 28 1/2 yrs and have mostly been home all that time, I have never felt good at it (difficult childhood, mom was a hard core rebellious feminist, etc. blah, blah , blah) so I have really struggled a lot of the time. I most certainly have never looked at it as fun, but you give such a different perspective about it. I really appreciate that. I feel like I just get you and what your taking about. Thanks for being honest and going against the grain in the usual internet mentality. Your an encouragement and help to me!
Btw, mini bio: I’m a Christian homeschooling mama (and Mimi…my grandma title) of 8 (6 gals & 2 guys ages 10-25) and I live in rural TN. We have 40-50 chickens, 3 inside cats, 3 outside cats and 2 dogs. We pretty much stay home mostly other than the store or church. We love home, too. I used to apologize to my children when they were younger for not being able to go on vacations or even to the area entertainment places (large family equals BIG $$, which we don’t have), but they would always look at me like I was crazy and say, “but Mama, we WANT to be home.” They meant it, too. I’m thankful that they love their family and home.
Just thought I’d share a little of my world. Thanks again for making me see how blessed I truly am. And helping me to enjoy life a little better. ❤

Thank you so much for this share of yourself and the positive words. I think that if we try to be perfect it becomes a compatition and no longer fun. I have two kids, not eight, so life is a bit easier. I was raised by a feminist as well and she would suggest I become a housewife as an insult. She would be jealous of my life if she was around. I bake and write all day and have happy children in the background. xoxxo

I also wanted to share a simple little blog that I’ve followed for a couple years. It’s G.donnas (Grandma Donnas) @ gdonna.com. Shes gone back to simpler living and has actually lived like the 30’s, 40’s, etc. Its like sitting with a grandma and hear about her simple, blessed way of life. You remind me of her. Check her out and her past articles.

Well Kate, I believe we are kindred spirits in many ways. I couldn’t find your email. Your blog is amazing. I am 15 years older,.started my journey as a housewife at 27. Mom at 30 and 31 and I had no support system. Everyone I knew worked outsize the home. I built the nest.

Relationships do come and go. You speak the truth. The constant is my nuclear family. I enjoy your perspective and look forward to each visit via video.

Hi Ann! I do still check here now and then. Thank you for all the kind and supportive words. I have had many people come and go, even family. Sometimes it makes me sad and most of the time I feel relief. I have experienced a lot of isolation since starting this journey of motherhood but I didn’t feel it as I have been blessed late in life with the boys and I found ways to be creative and have fun.

Hi Linda, Bali checked the PO Box today and we had a yellow slip, however, the post office lady said we had nothing. I don’t know if it’s the post office and being incompetent? If you sent something let me know because I’m concerned they gave my package away or lost it. After all, I had to slips in my box saying I had packages and then they said there was nothing…bizarre!!

HELLO, MRS KATE, YOU INSPIRE ME TO GET OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE. I CAN LISTEN TO YOU ANYTIME. YOUR SUCH A GENUINE LADY.I WOULD LOVE TO GET YOUR EMAIL TO GIVE YOU ITEMS I MAKE (EX;KNITTED DISHCLOTHS). THANK YOU,FOR MAKING MY DAY HAPPIER,

Hi Kate! You had said in the comment section of one of your posts to email pictures of my garden ( fruit trees, etc), but I cannot find which post it was and your email! So can you put it on here or email it to me again please? I took pictures of it and my “minimalist” home. I am the person with 5 kids and married to a Punjabi too in SF Bay Area! Thanks!

Hi Kate! Sent you my emails-had to send in separate emails bc too many pics I guess. Hope you enjoy our “ little farm” or jungle maybe lol! Lmk if you got them( via email so I don’t have to hunt for posts lol on here -I get lost!). XXXOOO

Kate, I mailed you a book from Ebay. I was afraid if I mentioned the name the price would skyrocket everywhere. I was a La Leche League leader back in the 1980’s and this was a book one of the ladies wrote about how mamas can afford to stay home with their babies. I think so much of the information is timeless. I hope you enjoy. I always loved that book. Hope you do, also.

I can’t wait! I will enjoy it and then share it on the blog and YouTube channel. Thank you so much for doing this! And yes, the minute I mention a book and a few people purchase it they jack those prices up.